This invention relates to a filling machine provided with a cleaning in place device. The invention relates more particularly to a rotating machine provided with a plurality of filling spouts for the filling of hollow containers, such as bottles or pots, with any sort of products, liquids to viscous, in particular a food product, the cleaning device comprising individual collecting elements associated to said filling spouts.
Such rotating filling machines conventionally include a rotating carrousel carrying a filling product tank and a plurality of filling stations, each filling station comprising a filling spout connected to the tank, a system for support making it possible to support a container under the filling spout, and dosing means in order to deliver a determined quantity of filling product into each container.
Such machines must be cleaned on a regular basis using a cleaning agent, such as a cleaning solution (soda, acid, water or disinfectant) or pressurised steam, which is made to circulate in the machine instead of the filling product, in order to remove any trace of the product and/or any biological or bacteriological contaminants.
In order to limit the consumption of cleaning agent or prevent fouling of the interior of the machine, in particular the lower plate, or in order to allow for the passage of pressurised steam, it is known to provide cleaning in place devices, called CIP devices, allowing for the recovery of the cleaning agent at the output of the filling spouts in terms of its circulation in a closed circuit.
These cleaning devices can include, such as described in patent FR 2 899 220, a plurality of individual collecting elements, such as tubes or vessels, each collecting element able to be moved vertically between a high service position wherein the collecting element comes into contact in a sealed manner with a filling spout in order to recover in their internal passage the cleaning agent delivered by said spout, and a retracted low position wherein said collecting element is separated from said filling spout in order to allow for the filling of containers. The collecting elements are connected to the same annular collection tube mounted mobile on a fixed frame in order to move all of the collecting elements between their two positions by vertical translation. Machines for filling are conventionally associated with cleaning in place units, called CIP units, which are used to prepare cleaning solutions, send the cleaning solutions into the tank of the filling machine, then recover them, and possibly recycle them. For the recovery of the cleaning solutions, the collection tube is connected to an intermediary recovery tray, provided with a pumping system and valves to evacuate the cleaning solution towards the cleaning unit.
In retracted low position the collecting elements must be arranged under the containers to be filled. The vertical travel between the two positions is relatively substantial, and the cleaning device has a substantial encumbrance in the lower portion of the machine. Cumbersome and complicated means for moving and guiding are required to carry out this vertical travel and guarantee a correct movement of all of the collecting elements in high position. Their presence congests the plate of the machine, complicating its cleaning in case of accidental fouling.
The collecting elements can come to all fit together on cylindrical portions of the filling spouts, sealing means formed of wiper seals then being provided in order to provide sealing. Such recovery tubes, provided with wiper seals and coming to fit onto the spouts, provide a good sealing, even when the machine comprises a large number of filling spouts, with differences in height between the spouts. However, their encumbrance may be incompatible with conventional systems for supporting containers.
Collecting elements provided at the upper end with an O-ring able to come to bear against the tapered exterior surface of the filling spout or against the lower annular edge surrounding the discharge opening of the spout can also be provided. Such a seal with an O-ring cannot be correctly provided on a machine provided with a large number of filling spouts, as in practice, the differences in height between the filling spouts cannot be compensated by the crushing of an O-ring.
In the aforementioned patent, it was proposed to provide the collecting elements with deformable tubular tips able to decrease axially in length elastically in order to offset the differences in height between the filling spouts. These tubular tips cannot however be used in certain cases, in particular according to the type of filling spout and/or the type of system for support.